Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1887-04-30

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55IEShef, osaYsthls very sarcasticallY,
|saSsitIIfs ii seems tonne now thatsl only
:sasc led lin appearing foolishly
:-Ispp6stinate.
They went.aWly. at; length, Her
|sslert. I'll children and Cassie, and
Confess I did feel alittle. lonely as
! clied them disappear. Night
MAS Shutting down gloomily, with
.sdisafEs clouds. Tie rain beat furi-
;asisly against the wludow-panes;
EEfEtife wind whirled in gusts about
stfalie house; and above all the roar
istl s.EiiVer. sounded with a hollow:
neB (which I never remembered
IiIi6ss91ii heard before. Altogether,
! tls5ngiis TStried to believe myself
veiW eoarage indeed, | could not
re;saass asfeeIing ofauneasiness, 9as,
If g5T laing the curtains and.
Iigjs f5351 "a ndles, Issat doWnsto
l.mS; hitting with my foot. on the
reeal elsof the baby's cradle. There
W&s Il ossouud Of anything within
'ths$room; the ticking OF the old
cldskand the swapping of the fire
were drowned in the mad dash OF
thss rain, the rafting Of the win
dogssand the sullen boom of the
riSer The words oil Herbert's
prophecy came back to me with
fearfGN dlstinctness. In fact, |
fonnd Gas many other has done,
thatlalse bravery hourislles best
i'll dayl light.
sBnt: the hours went by and ten
O'Clock came, and nothing unusual
aGsnappened. 1 began to laugh
at inysown fears. and was just GOV.
eringsthe fire for the night, when
thesBaby awoke and cried. So
Mother Hubbard fashion, went to
themilk room to get him some
milk / cannot tell why | wrapped
SHAWL about him and took him
wifi me. Ionly know that [ did,
andI Shave always thanked God for
if.
eThe milk room, which, as VIC,
then kept but one COW, we used
more as a pantry, was toward the
river. 1t was almost cellar, he
ing several feet lower than the
main part of the house, and parti-
ally walled up with stone. The
floor was of tagging and there was
one; window.
"3'he noise of the river increased
to a terrific, -thunderous roar, as |
opened the door and descended
the steps which, by the way, were
portable, for use in reaching the
higher. shelves. Placing my candle
upon the side table, tnrned to lift
down a pan Of milk. At that mo-
ment came a rumble like that, [
think, which precedes an earth
quake shock; and then q fearful
sound which cannot describe-a
L.eraGSse, crash and a roar together.
/ telt the stone floor beneath my
feet tremble. There was Il nose of
breaking glass, and in much less
time than it has taken me to tell it,
| stood in darkness, knee deep in q
mud swirl of waters.
"For all instant was numbed
By the shock, and utterly unable 10
comprehend the situation. The
baby broke into a frightened wail.t
l felt the water rising icy cold
about me. Something shook
against me in the darkness. l
touched it; the steps were atloat.
BlindlY cropping put out my
hand; it came in contact with tue
heavy, deal table, and with the
quickness Of thought climbed up
on it.
"There was I, baby and l, alone
with the night and the tempest and
the flood. The water was still rls-.
ing; alreadyit was creeping over
my feet as stood on the side table.
Higher and higher it rose until l
knew it must be above the stone
wall of the milk room and so have
flooded the house. | remember,
queerly enough, thinking it would
quench the Goals l had covered so
carefully for the mornings fire.
$50 l stood there, hushing the
baby's cries. | think Ibid not fear
much for our lives, until the water
reached my waist; felt so sure that
help would come, or that the water
would subside, aud even then 1t
seemed to me l could not desc
young, my life so full Of bright
hopes and promises"
Aunt Lacy paused a moment,her
eyes fixed on vacancy.
81 cannot describe to you my feel
ings as the water rose steadily about
me, stealing higher and higher, as
a beast or prey, sure OF its victim,
yet creeps stealthily upon it. 1t
reacnedSmy shoulder at length. |
could only keep my foothold by
pressing hard against the wall. /
remem berI thought how hard, ter
ribls hard, twas that we must die
there alone in that awful tumulCand
darkness. Baby and ], always
baby;and 1 held him over my head,
and shrieked in mad, wild terror
aud anguish for help"
sob, Aunty, don't!" cried Eva.
Aunt Lacy smiled. "Help came,
my dear, but not before the first
fierce rush which had swept away
the dam had passed, and the water
had begun to diminish. 1t was then
Icaught=the CLEAN of lantern aud
heard voices; and for many days |
~, ~, ond hnnrd ny mora WaS-